Evaluation of Pediatric Oral Health-Related Quality of Life score in children with traumatic dental avulsion injury: A Questionnaire-Based Cross-Sectional survey.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Dental avulsion injury, being one of the traumatic dental injuries, has negative impacts on children's life quality. This study aims to evaluate the Pediatric Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (POQL) scores of children with dental avulsion history from their perspective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The population of this cross-sectional study comprises 40 patients, aged between 8 and 14, who have a history of dental avulsion, in comparison to 40 other healthy peers. A questionnaire including general questions (such as age, gender, loss of tooth due to dental avulsion, malocclusion) and POQL instrument, with subscales including physical function, social function, emotional function, and role function, were completed by these children. Mann-Whitney U-test is used when comparing the POQL scores. RESULTS: The social scores (median: 47, interquartile range [IQR]: 17-95) and total score percentages (median: 30, IQR: 14-40) of children with a history of avulsion were higher than those of their healthy peers (p < 0.05). The higher total POQL scores among girls (median: 37, IQR: 31-47) with a history of dental avulsion compared to boys (median: 19, IQR: 8-34) (p = .002) can be attributed to girls achieving higher scores in both social (median: 81, IQR: 39-100) and emotional (median: 35, IQR: 17-47) scores following dental avulsion (psocial = .02, pemotional = .006). Whether the avulsed tooth is replanted or not, it has not made any visible impact on the POQL scores. However, the loss of replanted teeth over time has created a borderline significant difference in emotional scores (median: 21, IQR: 11-35, p = .055). CONCLUSION: Within the limits of our study, avulsion injuries have negative effects on children's emotional, social, and total quality of life. Even though avulsion injuries may be inevitable, to prevent these negative effects, it is vital to provide appropriate psychological support in the treatment of these children.

Intraoral findings of a patient with Nablus mask-like facial syndrome and dental treatment approaches: a case report and literature review.

Nablus mask-like facial syndrome (NMLFS) (OMIM: 608156) is an extremely rare genetic syndrome first reported by Ahmad Teebi in 2000. Although it is a rare condition, it is characterized by distinctive facial features such as, expressionless facial appearance, tight, glistening facial skin, low anterior hairline, sparse eyebrows, small palpebral fissures (blepharophimosis), hypertolerism, bulbous nose with prominent columella, abnormally short nose and flat nasal bridge, abnormal ear configuration, bilateral longitudinal cheek dimples, everted lower lip, long philtrum, and maxillary hypoplasia. In addition, a happy and friendly disposition is considered to be the common symptom of this syndrome. Previous studies revealing the intraoral findings of this rare symptom are inadequate and the present report is the first one that presents a dental case involving Nablus syndrome in detail. The aim of this report is to contribute to the current literature through our oral findings in an NMFLS patient, presented at our clinic with toothache and through our treatment approach.

Morphologic Mandibular Bone Changes on Panoramic Radiographs of Children and Adolescents with Congenital Heart Disease.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) has effects on growth and development. However, information on how the structure of the mandibular bone is affected is limited. In the present study, we aim to compare mandibular bone structures of children affected with CHD and healthy ones through the fractal analysis method and radiomorphometric indices based on panoramic radiographs. The study consisted of 80 children (20 with cyanotic CHD, 20 with acyanotic CHD, 40 control) who were diagnosed with CHD and were treated through interventional therapy or followed up through medical therapy. Fractal dimension (FD) was performed in three different areas (angulus, corpus, and interdental bone) on 80 panoramic radiographs. Additionally, we assessed various radiomorphometric indices: mandibular cortical width (MCW), panoramic mandibular index (PMI), mandibular cortical index (MCI), and simple visual estimation (SVE). p < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant in the analysis. Values of mean MCW, PMI, MCI, SVE, and FD measurements in children affected with CHD were found to be similar to the control group, regardless of whether they were cyanotic or acyanotic (p > 0.05). In this study, fractal analysis and radiomorphometric indices revealed no trabecular structure and mineral density changes in mandibular bone of children and adolescents with CHD compared to healthy subjects.

Assessment of Permanent First Molars in Children Aged 7 to 10 Years Old.

Background: Dental caries is a chronic, infectious and preventable disease that is very common around the world. It has been observed that dental caries affect not only the majority of adults but also 60% to 90% of children. Permanent first molars (PFM) are the most commonly decayed teeth observed in children. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the decayed, missing filled teeth (DMFT) scores of PFMs in the early post-eruptive stage, within the scope of the United Nations Agenda for 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, thereby raising awareness for the prevention and treatment of permanent tooth decay. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in Erzurum between the years 2015−2016 by collecting data from children aged 7−10 years (17,208). In addition to the decayed, filled and missing data of the students' 6-year-molars, their ages, genders, frequencies of both tooth brushing and dental office visits were evaluated. The relationship between the variables was analyzed with chi-square. Result: The present study analyzed the data of a total of 11,457 children, 5704 girls and 5753 boys with a mean age of 8.74 ± 1.18. There was a statistically significant difference between the PFMs 16, 26, 36 and 46 regarding the number of healthy, decayed, missing and restored teeth (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of caries in the PFMs of children aged 7−10 years was 15.9% and the mean DMFT was 0.79 ± 1.39. This result showed that PFMs might develop carious lesions and even be lost within three years in the early post-eruptive stage.

Early Childhood Caries in 4- to 5-Year-Old Children in Erzurum, Turkey.

Introduction: Early childhood caries is tooth decay seen in children under 72 months old. It is associated with multiple predisposing factors and has a negative impact on quality of life. In this study, our aim was to assess the oral health conditions and prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) in children in the city of Erzurum, Turkey. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in Atatürk University, Faculty of Dentistry, Pediatric Dentistry Department/Erzurum-Turkey, in the 2015-2016 academic year. A total of 1,156 children (588 girls and 568 boys), with mean age of 4.9 ± 0.3 years (min 4, max 5) were included in the study. Restorative index (RI), deft, significant caries index (SiC), SiC10, treatment needs, number of lost primary teeth per 100 children, care index, and prevalence of carious primary teeth were evaluated. Data were analyzed by Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0.05). Results: A total of 73.3% prevalence of ECC was observed in preschool children with a mean deft score of 3.9±4 and an increase in ECC with age. RI was 2.2%, SiC was 8.5, SiC10 was 12.3, caries treatment needs was 93.5%, care index was 2.1%, and number of lost primary teeth per 100 children was 0.9 tooth. Conclusion: High level of ECC indicates the necessity of starting an oral health education program for mothers and dental screening of children, and the demand for improving oral and dental services.